Marked for Alexander Hernández
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nelson Correa has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market2 Aug 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Fenix moved on, Thiago Fernández reports back to Racing, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad2 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Racing will try again when the window opens; River Plate may not be selling by then.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robinson Ferreira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of José Varela
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 May 2027
15 unbeaten for Racing
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 15 matches without defeat is a foundation Racing did not have in the autumn.
Match8 May 2027
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A brace, and Jeremías Merlo takes the afternoon — 8.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jeremías Merlo provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Jeremías Merlo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match8 May 2027
Racing make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The terraces10 May 2027
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match8 May 2027
Fenix blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Fenix tried to reorganise, Racing did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Looking ahead10 May 2027
Top-of-the-table clash for Racing
Juventud next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match1 May 2027
Whatever happens, Racing do not lose
14 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Jeremías Merlo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Robinson Ferreira falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 May 2027
José Varela is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Racing has been clear about where José Varela stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexander Hernández commits to Racing for another 4 years.
Player ratings3 May 2027
7.81, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Racing had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad3 May 2027
Axel Atum makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Facundo Parada
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Juventud moved on, Sebastián da Silva reports back to Racing, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastián da Silva and Racing agree another 3 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Jeremías Merlo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ramiro Brazionis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market11 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Racing know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad11 Jan 2027
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
Market11 Jan 2027
The clock runs on Facundo Parada's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Racing may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Racing
Axel Atum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Bosca, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Teliz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Franco Suárez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Racing will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market19 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Racing know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 Aug 2026
Racing bow out of the cup
Boston River go through and Racing go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Racing
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Racing are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Racing
Bautista Tomatis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Both jobs done by Tomás Habib — 7.50
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.50, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Manuel Ayala, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Facundo González dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.